1997 What-might-have-been Atlantic Hurricane Season (Farm River)
The '''1997 Atlantic Hurricane Season '''is an below-average season, with 14 storms forming. The season officially began on June 1, 1997, and lasted until November 30, 1997. It is the least active season since 1992. The notable storms are Erika and Herbert. Erika makes landfall on Florida as a category 1, causing moderate damage. Erika would have caused major damage if it hits as a category 3 but wind shear weakened Erika. Herbert, the strongest storm of the season, did not affect much areas. It moves northeast instead of going directly to Caribbean. It was the first time since the 1961 season that there were no active tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin during the entire month of August. A strong El Niño is credited with reducing the number of storms in the Atlantic, while increasing the number of storms in the Eastern and Western Pacific basin. Seasonal Forecasts Forecasts of hurricane activity are issued before each hurricane season by noted hurricane experts such as Dr. William M. Gray and his associates at Colorado State University (CSU) and the Weather Research Center (WRC). In December 1996, CSU predicted that only 10 named storms would form and 4 of those would become hurricanes and 2 would become major hurricane. However, in April 1997, CSU revised their forecast, stating that 7 named storms would develop, with 3 of those intensifying into a hurricane, and 1 reaching major hurricane intensity. In June, CSU predicted 8 named storms, 5 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes.2 The forecast by the WRC in February 1996 was 8 named storms, 4 hurricanes, and 1 major hurricane. The revise of prediction of the activity is affected by the strong El Niño that happens at that time. Overview ImageSize = width:700 height:215 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:190 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/06/1997 till:01/11/1997 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/06/1997 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TD value:rgb(0.38,0.73,1) legend:Tropical_Depression_=_<39_mph id:TS value:rgb(0,0.98,0.96) legend:Tropical_Storm_=_39-73_mph id:C1 value:rgb(1,1,0.80) legend:Category_1_=_74-95_mph id:C2 value:rgb(1,0.91,0.46) legend:Category_2_=_96-110_mph id:C3 value:rgb(1,0.76,0.25) legend:Category_3_=_111-129_mph id:C4 value:rgb(1,0.56,0.13) legend:Category_4_=_130-156_mph id:C5 value:rgb(1,0.38,0.38) legend:Category_5_≥_157_mph Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:11 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:01/06/1997 till:06/06/1997 color:C1 text:Ana (C1) from:29/06/1997 till:03/07/1997 color:TS text:Bill (TS) from:09/07/1997 till:15/07/1997 color:C2 text:Claire (C2) from:13/07/1997 till:18/07/1997 color:TS text:David (TS) from:15/07/1997 till:27/07/1997 color:C3 text:Erika (C3) from:17/07/1997 till:21/07/1997 color:TS text:Frederic (TS) from:22/07/1997 till:26/07/1997 color:TS text:Grace (TS) barset:break from:01/09/1997 till:15/09/1997 color:C4 text:Herbert (C4) from:04/10/1997 till:08/10/1997 color:TS text:Isabel (TS) from:14/10/1997 till:18/10/1997 color:C1 text:Joaquin (C1) bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/06/1997 till:01/07/1997 text:June from:01/07/1997 till:01/08/1997 text:July from:01/08/1997 till:01/09/1997 text:August from:01/09/1997 till:01/10/1997 text:September from:01/10/1997 till:01/11/1997 text:October TextData = pos:(400,30) text:"(From the" pos:(447,30) text:"Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale)" Systems Hurricane Ana Tropical Storm Bill Hurricane Claire Tropical Storm David Hurricane Erika Tropical Storm Frederic Tropical Storm Grace Hurricane Herbert Tropical Storm Isabel Hurricane Joaquin Storm Names Here are the storm names used in the 1997 season. The names not retired will be used again in the 2003 season. This is the same list used in 1991 except for Claire, which replaces Charlotte. The name Claire were used for the first time. Retirement No names were retired in this season, so all the names will be reused for 2003 season. Season Effects Category:Inactive hurricane seasons Category:Atlantic hurricane seasons Category:Farm River's Creations Category:Past Hurricane Seasons Category:Past Storms Category:What-might-have-been seasons